SOUTHERN SECTION BOYS’ SOCCER WILD-CARD GAMES : El Toro Survives Scare to Beat Garden Grove

Garden Grove didn’t end its 14-year Southern Section playoff drought Wednesday, but it did manage to scare El Toro for 40 minutes before losing, 2-0, in a Division III boys’ soccer wild-card game Wednesday at Garden Grove.

“It’s all emotion in the playoffs, and you could see their confidence rising as the game went on,” El Toro Coach Bobby Chavez said of Garden Grove.

The Argonauts (8-8-5) actually put the ball into the net first, but the apparent goal on an indirect kick was disallowed when it failed to touch another Garden Grove player.

“We talked about that at halftime,” Chavez said. “You can’t fall asleep on that. If the referee’s not paying attention, you can get yourself in real trouble.”

El Toro (8-13-2) didn’t take long to escape trouble as it scored 40 seconds into the second half on a goal by sophomore midfielder Bryan Roney. Wade Fraser and Deiter Segura assisted on the goal.

“They got that goal and they sat on it,” Garden Grove Coach Ryan Hill said. “They have a good strong midfield and that was the difference.”

Garden Grove had a strong keeper in Hugo Monteon (10 saves) and a strong sweeper in Gerardo Ayala, but not much else. The Argonauts rarely put pressure on El Toro keepers Chris Brigham (two saves) and Sean Taeger (four saves).

“Finishing has been our problem all season,” Hill said. “If we fall behind, we just don’t have the big scorers to bring us back.”

Meanwhile, the Chargers had Roney, who scored his second goal almost by himself. After receiving a crossing pass from freshman Ryan Kenyon, Roney tapped the ball to himself, then spun and volleyed it past Monteon into the right corner of the net.

“That sophomore is going to be a good player,” Hill said. “He made a couple big plays.”

El Toro, the Sea View League’s third-place team, will travel to play University (12-6-1), the Pacific Coast League champion, in Friday’s first round.

Garden Grove, which hasn’t won a playoff game since 1981, lost in the wild-card round for the second consecutive year.

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In Division I:

Dana Hills 2, Upland 1--Oke Utsumi scored on an assist from brother Yoshi Utsumi three minutes into the first overtime period for visiting Dana Hills in the wild-card round.

Troy Meyers scored first for Dana Hills, 15 minutes into the first half. But Upland (18-8-1) answered 15 minutes later with a goal by Matt Scammacca.

Jeff Ginn had five saves and Victor Compean added nine saves for the Dolphins (11-10-2), who will face Fountain Valley (19-3) in the first round Friday.

Edison 5, North Torrance 0--Kevin Staunton, Ryan Fial, Dan Soleymai, Todd Marcus and Travis Clutter scored for Edison (15-5-4). Chris Shay had two saves in the shutout.

Edison will play Santa Ana in the first round.

In Division III:

Riverside J.W. North 1, Estancia 1 (North wins shootout, 5-4)--Estancia ended 15-8-5. North (14-7-4) will face Woodbridge (16-5-5) Friday in the first round.

Westlake Village Westlake 3, Servite 0--Westlake scored midway through the first half and went on to beat Servite, which finished the season 8-13. Westlake (12-5-5) will play Peninsula (25-3).